Top 15 Best Yoga Books For Beginners

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Written By Ryan Patton

Adventurer, Tech Geek and Lover of Productivity Hacks. 

Incorporating Yoga into your daily life can bring significant positive changes. Learn more about this through our list of Yoga Books.

Don’t Miss: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Yoga


Yoga Books

Incorporating Yoga into your life can be far more beneficial than you might think.

The short answer to if yoga is good for you is always a resounding, yes!

Practicing different postures, breathing techniques and different meditations during a yoga session can improve your life significantly.

Aside from being just your daily exercise, yoga is great for the mind and the body. 

For beginners, yoga can help you in numerous areas, from reducing stress, improving and toning muscle flexibility, improving concentration and blood flow throughout the body, lowering body fat, and many others. 

Developed in India as a spiritual practice, yoga has been gaining popularity across the world for the numerous benefits and the overall wellness that the practice brings. Practicing yoga can make you more conscious about your body and mind, helping you become more aware of how they function.

If you are just starting to involve yoga in your life, or if you are merely a beginner, there is no reason why you can’t pick up a book on yoga and understand its origins, benefits, and how it can positively change your life.

Reading is always the best way to approach an unknown subject, as it fills you with information on everything regarding the topic of your interest. 

Table of Contents

  1. Best Yoga Books For Beginners
  2. Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit A Return to Wholeness
  3. Light on Pranayama – The Definitive Guide to the Art of Breathing
  4. A Year of Living Your Yoga
  5. Meditations from the Mat
  6. Science of Yoga
  7. Light on Yoga
  8. Yoga Anatomy
  9. Yoga for Everyone
  10. The Heart of Yoga
  11. Practice You
  12. The Language of Yoga: Complete A-to-Y Guide to Asana Names, Sanskrit Terms, and Chants
  13. Yoga as Medicine
  14. The Yoga Beginner’s Bible
  15. 4-Book Series: Props for Yoga 
  16. Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Through Stillness 

Best Yoga Books For Beginners


Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit A Return to Wholeness

Author Dr. Author Donna Farhi Selk and Tom Bartow

This book serves as a great introduction to yoga poses as well as the philosophy under which yogis live. This book will guide you step by step through all the yoga poses for beginners until you reach a more advanced method, which is also discussed in the book. 


Light on Pranayama – The Definitive Guide to the Art of Breathing

Author BKS Iyengar

Another great yoga book for beginners. Written by a very respected yoga teacher, this book is a great way to start getting involved with yoga practices. It talks about how and where to start, and how to connect even further with your mind and body.


A Year of Living Your Yoga

Author Judith Lasater

Getting started is often the hardest step to take, but don’t be afraid, this book guides you exactly on how you should start embracing yoga into your life. It is far more from a simple practice, but it is a lifestyle. This book will serve as a guide for the next 365 days, and therefore you won’t have to go through this process alone.


Meditations from the Mat

Author Rolf Gates

Although every book listed here is a great introduction to yoga, this book also touches on a very important aspect of this practice; meditation. This book helps you to get started with yoga and meditation, to experience a full transformation. Setting a daily intention in your yoga practice is very important in order to start seeing changes in your life. This book will guide you to get there step by step.


Science of Yoga

Author  Ann Swanson

The benefits of yoga are simply endless and if you care to know what they all are, this book for beginners is a great guide to get you started. Aside from simply talking about yoga poses and how to achieve a great practice, this book discusses the science of yoga. If you don’t really consider yourself the spiritual type, this book can help you learn about the science behind it in order to understand what it is from a secular and non-spiritual point of view. 


Light on Yoga

Author BKS Iyengar

If there is one book you really need to pick up it is this one. Aside from being just informative on the practice of yoga, this book also talks about beliefs and a more mindful lifestyle. With pictures and drawings, this book demonstrates the advantages of yoga in life. This book is basically your encyclopedia when it comes to all about yoga. 


Yoga Anatomy

Author Leslie Kaminoff

Understanding all the yoga poses from their core is very important in order to ensure that you will have a correct practice and avoid any kind of injuries. Its illustrations show poses from the inside out, demonstrating which muscles are being stretched and worked with. 


Yoga for Everyone

Author Diane Bondy

If you think that yoga may not be for you, this book will list all of the reasons why it is. Yoga is for everyone, and its numerous benefits apply to all as well. Aside from providing different tips on yoga poses, this book demonstrates how yoga is an inclusive practice. It shows you the different poses that you can do, and how each body type is suitable for them. It shows you different alterations to one pose, therefore as a beginner, you can try whatever works for you and work your way towards trickier poses.


The Heart of Yoga

Author TKV Desikachar

If you are wondering why do people love yoga so much, then this is a great book to understand what all the fuss about it. Understanding the benefits is only one part of it, but really understanding the history of why people started practicing yoga is the real reason why it is a life-changer. The mindfulness and spiritual awakening that comes from it is something that will forever change your life. 


Practice You

Author Elena Brower

This wonderful book discusses the idea of introducing yoga into people’s lives in order to have a more mindful life. This book’s main purpose is to inspire people to look into improving themselves by becoming more self-conscious, more aware of their bodies, and more in tune with their inner selves. 


The Language of Yoga: Complete A-to-Y Guide to Asana Names, Sanskrit Terms, and Chants

Author Nicolai Bachman

When you first step into a yoga class you might not understand all the terms and words that are being thrown your way. This yoga book for beginners is great to get to know all the necessary terms, yoga poses and their names. Take some time to fill yourself with information in order to be ready for the next practice. This is a great yoga book to get started with and get to know the art of yoga in depth. 


Yoga as Medicine

Author Yoga Journal and Timothy McCall

Treating yoga as a form of therapy is the right way to go. If you are thinking of practicing yoga, there are multiple reasons listed in this book of why you should do it. Some people practice it for the exercise benefits, other for the spiritual awakening, but others for the health benefits like reducing stress, blood circulation, relaxation, and many more.


The Yoga Beginner’s Bible

Author Tai Morello

With this beginner’s guide, you will embark on a soul transformative journey, where your body and your life will change. Learn what it means to transform your life and to live happier and joyful with adding a yoga practice into your daily routine. 


4-Book Series: Props for Yoga

Author Eyal Shifroni

If you are curious about exploring different yoga methods, then this is the right book for you. This book will guide you step by step through different methods so that you can increase your knowledge over time. The reason why this book is great is that it’s a 4 book series, therefore when you finish one, you can move on to the next one and reflect on your progress.


Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Through Stillness

Author Erich Schiffmann

This lovely approach to yoga is great for any type of beginner whose main purpose is to learn more about this activity through the art of practice and consistency. This book does a great job of relating to the way you see yoga and transform it into everyday life. You will gain an understanding of how they relate to one another and essentially live a better life.


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Did you find this list of yoga books for beginners helpful? If I missed one that you recommend, please leave a comment below.

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Top 15 Yoga Books For Beginners

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